Not During Practice!
by Goblin Cat KC
Summary: Leonardo has certain ideas about where it's appropriate to show affection. Michelangelo doesn't always agree. SLASH ::drabble set complete::
1. Chapter 1

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Drabble: Not During Practice! (1 of 4)

by KC

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Disclaimer: I don't own the turtles.

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Pairing: Michelangelo/Leonardo

Big brother knows something's up when I don't complain. Usually when Splinter makes us spar against each other, I groan and whine about the bruises I'm gonna have later 'cause Leo never pulls his punches. Well, maybe he does 'cause I've seen him knock out Purple Dragons with one hit, but it sure doesn't feel like it.

"Ready to take on the Battle Nexus Champion?" I know it drives all of them nuts, but I love the annoyed looks they all give me. I really enjoy the way it chips away at Leo's armor. Calm, cool and collected, that's how we're all supposed to see him. Don't ever mention we've all seen him pissed off, gloating and even on occasional totally broken up.

"Not right now, Mike," he says.

Right, 'cause that always shuts me up.

Splinter starts the match. We're fighting open hand, and the usual script is that I make some banter and play keepaway, he eventually catches me and I get the usual "get serious" lecture. So it's totally satisfying to see his eyes widen when I leap straight at him with a "goongala!" that would make Casey proud.

Wow. Usually he ducks faster than that.

I lean over him and watch his eyes blink a few times. Guess he hit his head on the floor. His eyes kinda look like caramel and I bend a little closer as they focus on me. Just for a moment I get that rare soft look and smile 'cause I got him to look at me like that--

On the other side of the room, Raph snickers.

And then I'm slammed on my shell with him on top of me, and that soft look is totally gone 'cause Leo suddenly remembers where we are.

"Not now, Mike," he growls, like he doesn't like me playing around in here. Which he totally does, just not when everyone else is here.

He can't fool me, though. I saw that look. I know for a second he stopped thinking about practice and thought only about me. He gets back into his stance and I follow suit with a grin.

Careful, big brother. I got you once. I'm coming for ya again.

end


	2. Chapter 2

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Drabble: Not When Raph And Don Are Home! (2 of 4)

by KC

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Disclaimer: I don't own the turtles.

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Pairing: Michelangelo/Leonardo

Forget video games. Bugging Leo 'till he has to pay attention to me is the best game ever. I pop into his room with my headphones cranked all the way and come up behind him. Of course he knows I'm here, but he's meditating and nothing will make him look up when he's meditating. It totally isn't fair that Leo can sit and do nothing and Splinter encourages him, but when I sit and do nothing, I get called lazy!

This is fair comeuppance, as far as I'm concerned.

I plop down on the mat and lean back against his shell, nodding my head in time to the beat. I know he can hear the music through the headphones. I chose the bubblegum pop specifically to bug him. I wonder how hard he tries to tune it out. Splinter makes it look so easy when he contemplates the cosmos. He meditated straight through some of my worst kitchen explosions. Or maybe he just didn't wanna open his eyes and see what I did.

Never ever ever touch hot glass with a cold, damp dishrag. Just fyi.

Leo shifts around behind me but he doesn't say anything. At least I don't think he says anything. I can't really hear anything except the music right now. But he's moving--ha, he moved again--which means I've broken his focus. He's just delaying the inevitable now.

He heaves a small sigh which pushes me up a little, and when he exhales he kind of leans forward, which tips me further back. Perfect angle for me to lay my head on his shoulder. When he turns just enough to give me that familiar glare, I smile and flutter my eyes at him.

See, Leo doesn't play this game fair. He doesn't smile to let you know when you're doing something right. He doesn't tell you when you've hurt his feelings. And although he will say when he's angry, he does this "disappointed in you" thing where you feel guilty and you can't even really argue back. Don calls it being passive aggressive and Raph calls it him being a jerk.

I'd be more upset about it if I didn't know it's not 'cause he won't play by the rules. He doesn't play fair 'cause he doesn't know how to play fair. No one ever told him the rules. Which is totally cool by me 'cause that means I don't have to play by the rules, either. Well, except his rules.

I don't move as his glare softens. It really doesn't take much to get him to soften. Not for me. He reaches up to take off my headphones. That's it, I think as the music fades. Bend a little closer. Just a little more...

I'm on my shell before I realize he's dropped me on the floor and moved across the room. Of course I know why I've been dumped. I can hear the reason stomping up the steps.

"Hey, Leo! Where the hell are you? Splinter said we--"

Raphael, master of timing. I snag my headphones and ignore him, usually not the safest thing to do but Leo won't let him do anything. Funny. The squeaky song kind of matches Raph's mouth when he's grumbling.

Raphael leaves again after a couple seconds, but the damage is done. Leo's back in serious mode. I already know what he's gonna say when he comes over and pulls one of my headphones up.

"Not when Raph and Don are home," he whispers as if they might hear us all the way downstairs.

I watch him walk away, pausing to give me a quick look over his shoulder before he keeps going. Yeah, these rules he makes up as he goes along would be harder to swallow if I didn't know he hates 'em, too.

I put my hands under my head and stare at his ceiling for awhile. It's okay. I won't get mad. It's not Raph's fault he's completely clueless. And it's not Leo's fault he's so cautious. I'd hate to get caught, too. I mean, even if everything went perfect and none of them spazzed, Raph would still heckle us and Splinter would make those embarrassing fatherly comments. Don't even get me started on the birds and the bees talk. I just wanna pretend Splinter doesn't even know what sex is.

It's okay. I can wait. Contrary to what everyone thinks, I can be one patient turtle. Leo and I fit together good, I think. He thinks following rules keeps us safe.

And I know rules are made to be broken.

end


	3. Chapter 3

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Drabble: Not When Splinter's Nearby! (3 of 4)

Late at night, the lair turns super creepy. Especially after a nightmare. The lair's dark and the water makes these weird noises in the pipes like something's breathing beside you. Leo got April to get me a little nightlight, but even Hello Kitty waving her magic wand at me from across the room doesn't help much. She casts just enough of a glow that I can see the far wall and some of the stuff scattered on the floor. But she does let me see where I'm going when I climb out of bed.

I grab my pillow and drag my blanket behind me as I sneak out of my room. It's not that I'm not allowed to roam around at night, but usually it's only to get the last slice of cake or watch tv 'cause I can't sleep. Sometimes I'll spot the light on in Donny's lab or see Raph beating the crap out of the punching bag. I've seen Splinter come out to make tea and disappear back into his room. And once in a blue moon I'll catch Leo checking up on us like he's afraid we're gonna disappear out of our beds. Tonight everyone's asleep but me. I creep across to Leo's room and peek in. I can't really see him, but Splinter taught us how to "see" in the dark.

Leo sleeps weird. He sits crosslegged with his back against the wall, head slightly forward and his hands folded in his lap. I wonder how he stays comfortable like that and why he even bothers. It's not like Splinter ever told us to sleep like that. Just chalk it up to him being more "devoted ninja" than even sensei.

Sneaking up on a sleeping Leo isn't a smart idea, so I don't try to sneak in. By the time I reach him all the way in the back of the room, he's sitting straight and listening to me with a sleepy smile. I can tell 'cause he breathes a little different when he smiles, a relaxed sigh over a quick laugh. Good, if he's smiling that means he wasn't having a nightmare so he won't be totally tense.

I drop my pillow beside him and sit down, arranging it while he holds still. Once I'm leaning comfortably against him, I yank the blanket up to my shoulders. There's plenty of blanket left over, so I flip it over Leo's lap. He doesn't usually sleep with one, not until winter sets in and it gets cold down here, but he doesn't argue.

"Nightmare?" he whispers.

"Mm-hmm." Not in the mood to talk about it, either. It was the usual one, being trapped underground and running around in circles trying to get out. Don't need a psychologist to tell me what it means, but it's not like we're ever gonna live above ground and I don't wanna head topside by myself right now 'cause sometimes I really do get lost down here.

He doesn't pry. It's weird 'cause he'll pry and pry and never give up when it comes to anything else, like if I'm feeling sick or if I get really steamed. But he doesn't kick me out of his room either, so maybe he's just waiting for me to talk about it myself. Not gonna happen, of course.

"If you want to go get your nightlight..." he says.

I shake my head. "Don't need it. You're here."

I never get a reply to that. Usually it's 'cause I've got my mouth on his. Can't help it, sappy lines like that make me wanna kiss him, even if I'm the one that said it. Especially if I'm the one that said it. And he tastes like tea with lots of sugar. I think I'm getting a taste for tea even though I never drink it.

Both of us hear Splinter's door open. I pull back from the kiss before he can push me away. It's one of his other rules, "not when Splinter's around." Which is totally not fair. Splinter isn't just our uber sneaky sensei, he's sensed us getting into trouble from miles away. How're we supposed to do anything if we have to practically leave the city to do it?

Splinter stays awake for a long time after he makes his tea. We listen to him moving in the living room and turning on the tv, keeping the volume impossibly low. The light flickers in front of the door and I burrow a little deeper in the blanket, nuzzling his throat as my eyes close. I fall asleep before Splinter.

Good thing I always used to come sleep next to Leo after my nightmares. No one's surprised when we come out of the same bedroom. Even when they wake up first and find us under the same blanket, they don't suspect. Sometimes playing the baby of the family has its advantages. No one suspects anything when Leo and I look at each a little longer or stand a little closer. And no one else notices when I occasionally add another spoonful to Leo's tea. Well, not Don or Raph anyway. Leo doesn't let me do it if Splinter's around.

So I feel extra sneaky when I get that teaspoon in without Leo noticing, either.

end


	4. Chapter 4

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(drabble) Gotcha (4 of 4)

by KC

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Disclaimer: I don't own the turtles.

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Pairing: Michelangelo/Leonardo

It's rare when it's just us in a fight. Usually it's all four of us against a big gang, but tonight it's just me and Leo up against what's gotta be all the Purple Dragons. Sometimes even I'm amazed at how well we work together, shell to shell, when Raph isn't there throwing insults and Don isn't there using big words that totally confuse me. Not that I don't get what he's saying most of the time, but sometimes Donatello can take an hour to say something simple, know what I mean?

Even though Leo's a lot more serious than I like to be, he keeps things as simple as he can. His orders don't get long, he doesn't use huge fifty syllable words and he likes to win. Okay, so half of his orders are "Mike, pay attention" and his short words tend to be "Mike, knock it off," and if he likes to win, then he really hates to be ignored, so he'll smack me if I miss one of his orders.

It's not my fault, though! Fighting gives me a real rush of adrenalin, makes me bouncy. And nunchucks are nothing if not bouncy. Leo's swordsmanship is based all around focus and follow through. Nunchucks--well yeah, I gotta focus and follow through, too, but it's not the same. Using a sword makes you think in straight lines and curves. With nunchucks, I gotta think in spirals when I'm spinning 'em like propellers, angles every time I make a hit, even squiggles when they bounce off someone's head. Fighting's different when your weapon's floppy in the middle. Kind of like constantly wrapping cotton candy around a stick, keeping balance without losing any of that pink sugar.

But after a few minutes of fighting, the fight's over. The alley looks like it's paved with knocked out Purple Dragons, and those are just the ones that didn't have the sense to run away. Whole gang laid out and run off, and all I got are a few bruises and some scraped knuckles.

"Woohoo!" The rest of my family doesn't believe me, but I say every victory should be properly celebrated with a little dance. "Go us! Go us! That's what you get for fighting the Battle Nexus Champion and his sidekick, uh..."

Wow, I didn't think coming up with sidekick names was so hard. Don't think he'd like Battle Boy. Guess I could always go with Fearless Leader, but he doesn't like that one, either.

"Mike...knock it off."

Told ya so.

He'd wiping his swords off on the nearest body. You think I'd be used to that by now, but not really. I gotta get blood off my nunchucks sometimes, too, but they're varnished wood. A little blood on his swords makes 'em rust real fast. And it's never a little blood. But I can handle it as long as none of it's his.

Police sirens coming closer, so we take off around the corner and take a few backstreets 'till we're safe in a dead end, away from the street lights. Y'know, one of these days I wanna have a human friend who's a cop. That way, after a big brawl like tonight's, I can lurk in the shadows and wait for him to stand all alone under a streetlamp smoking a cigarette telling me about investigations and clues. And Leo would hide even farther in the shadows and glare at me and tell me how risky that kind of behavior is.

And Leo and me wouldn't have to run a couple blocks to satisfy his paranoia about keeping out of sight, so we wouldn't be sore after running with injuries. My bruises wouldn't pound in time with my heartbeat and Leo--

"Dude, what's wrong with your--"

"It's nothing." Leo gives me that look, the exasperated quit worrying I'm fine one, and stands up straight, letting his hand fall from where he was holding his side. I don't see anything shiny, so I guess he's not bleeding. I look back up at his eyes and...oh. His eyes are definitely shiny.

My shell's up against the wall just as I recognize that look. He gets like this after a fight sometimes. Dunno if it's the adrenaline or the fear that we might get hurt bad someday, or maybe he just gets excited after a good brawl. Kind of like Raph, but don't ever tell 'em they're kind of alike. They hate that.

Not that I mind this. Weeks of trying to get a little interest out of him, and then this? Like a storm after drought. I could drink him in all night. Probably will, if his wandering hands are anything to go by. It's all precision with him, of course. He knows where to touch, what to whisper, when to pin my hands against the wall and when to let me go 'cause my hands're useless. This is what I was missing, when he gets so close that it feels like I'm gonna disappear into him and--

He winces.

There's just a hint of a hiss of pain, but that's all I need. My hands work again and I put them on his shoulders, pushing him back gently. He looks a little annoyed, but I think it's more because he hates it when we notice if he's hurt or bleeding or dragging a broken leg.

"Mike..."

I don't sound like that when I whine, do I? Okay, he's not really whining. Mostly.

"Leo, you're hurt--"

"It's not bad," he argues. "Probably not even cracked."

Yeah, like that helps. I move to touch that spot on his side he's favoring and he flinches, then shuts his eyes as I press my hand flat against it. I think he's right that nothing's busted, but still, his breathing's off. Believe me, for Leo that's a big thing.

"We better get you home."

Weird to be the one saying that. If this is how he feels, though, all protective and worried and wanting to be sure, then I'm glad I get to be the goof-off most of the time. The sad, frustrated look in his eyes doesn't make it any easier.

"But we never get any time," he whispers. "We may not get another chance for weeks."

"Not with your rules," I say. "How about trying my rules for a change?"

He gives me another look, nervous and a little lost. I love that look--well yeah, I like all his looks--but this one's rare and it's so easy to poke him to go in the right direction when he's a little lost. It happens more often than everyone thinks. I know how tempting it is to just give in and trust someone else when you don't know what to do. And we both know that this set-up just isn't working.

He doesn't say anything else. He doesn't have to. When I see his gaze slip away and he glances at the pavement, I know I've won.

Gotcha, big bro'.


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